Brussels | Gloomy EU report on developments in Hong Kong

BRUSSELS (dpa) – With a new report on developments in Hong Kong, leading EU representatives are making scathing accusations against the political leadership in Beijing.

Over the past year, Hong Kong’s high standards of autonomy and democratic principles and fundamental freedoms have further weakened, according to an EU Commission analysis report by Ursula van der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell. These developments raised further doubts about China’s commitment to the “one country, two systems” policy.

It actually provides that citizens of the former British crown colony of Hong Kong will enjoy “higher autonomy” and a number of freedoms until 2047. Britain returned Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997.

Arrests for national security reasons are cited in the new annual report as an example of negative developments from an EU perspective. According to this, more than 230 people have been affected by the end of 2022. 145 people and five companies were charged, with a conviction rate of 100 percent.

Often a long detention

Also, many were awaiting their trial. Among them were 47 pro-democracy activists who took part in the primaries and members of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in support of patriotic democracy movements in China. Many of them have been in custody since January 2021, some even in solitary confinement.

As for the situation of press freedom, it is said to have deteriorated significantly in 2022. Many independent media outlets have suspended their operations and journalists have been arrested and charged. Hong Kong has dropped 68 places to 148th place out of 180 countries in the 2022 press freedom ranking compiled by journalists’ organization Reporters Without Borders.

However, the report says there have been no dramatic effects so far on economic relations between the EU and Hong Kong. With 1,600 companies, the European Union continued to be the largest foreign economic community in 2022 and Hong Kong’s third largest trading partner in goods trade. Bilateral trade in services between the EU and Hong Kong has also increased by around 25 percent and investments in both directions are still substantial.